Torn between two granites

colorfastJuly 12, 2011

Hey, I need your help! After much soul searching, I am down to two granite finalists, and struggling between them. I like both, have tagged one. Need to decide soon because the fab guy wants to get my choice delivered to his place....

I originally thought I could not have blue because, well, we have a budget, but this one was within our powers. I really could go either way with either of these.

I am not worrying about the backsplash yet but feel it needs to be simple (ie white subway tile). Weigh in on that too if you are so inspired.

I like the green. It goes nicely with the warmth of your wood. Is the big piece your floor?

They are both really nice though so you won't make a bad choice. Is the kitchen open to other rooms? Do those rooms read cooler like the blue does or warmer like the green? It may help you lean more one way than the other to consider that.

Hi, Breezy,
thanks for your thoughts. I'm glad you like both. I do think I was able to capture the green better on camera. The lighting at stone yards and the reflective quality of the granite make it tough. Yes, the bigger sample is the Shaw flooring we just bought.

Between the tri-level and the layout, our kitchen doesn't really open up to the rest of the house and won't when we're through. The entryway is the main point of connection, and is in a neutral that I will probably repaint when I repaint the kitchen.

What would be the logical extension of either palette for walls or backsplash? Pure white for the blue and cream for the green? Do I have other options?

I like the blue by far. But really, the best thing for you to do, since we cannot see the rest of your house, your kitchen, the light, etc. is for you to take samples home with you, and see them in your kitchen. You will be amazed at how doing that will make up your mind.

I think Dynamic Blue is sometimes also called Bros Blue or Splash Blue. This is the prettiest slab of it that I've seen.

I would go with a simple backsplash, maybe with a listello or accent tiles. But with the blue,if you want drama, you might want to consider using it behind the range/cooktop. for a really dramatic look, you can do a full granite backsplash. If you want a quieter look, just stick with the tile. IMO, a matte tile looks good with shiny granite.

I likw the green. To me, it seems to "go" with the cabinets better. But obviously you like them both and several other people are voting for the blue so it comes down to what you want most. Niether looks "bad".

The blue would be a stand out. But, my vote would be the green only because I prefer green over blue. With the green I can picture a very, very light toned green backsplash. Not sure if I like your vision of a white subway tile, your light wood cabinets and then the blue granite.

I can also see why this is such a hard choice. The funny thing is, once you decide and get it installed, you won't even really remember the other one.

I am a huge blue fan - I've had blue granite for 16 years - but I also have green granite in my laundry room, I love them both. When I first looked at the green slab above, it reminded me of what flying over a forest looks like - seeing all the green tree tops.

You can't "goof" - good luck in deciding!

I guess if one costs a fair amount more than the other, that might help make the decision. If you even considered a full backsplash in the granite, I think the blue would be best for that.

The longer lines in the blue seem more peaceful to me than the squiggles in the green. (If they were both pools of water, the blue is calm and tranquil while the green has a bunch of fish jumping around in it creating ripples. Lol!)

Well, I like blue, so I'm probably a little swayed by that (LOL) but while the green is very pretty, the pattern seems a lot busier to me. The blue is more calming, looks great with the cabinets and will probably be eaiser to use with a backsplash. If you're planning on using stainless steel appliances, I think the blue would look better, too.

For the backsplash, with the blue...I think you could do something much more creative (but still simple) than white subway tile. Nothing wrong with them...but maybe bring in some grays/blues or even a little stainless steel. You're going to have a beautiful kitchen! :)

I love the blue. I don't think you can go wrong, but to me, the blue looks like more of a luxe piece of granite. The pattern is beautiful and understated on the blue piece. And, blue granite is such a nice touch because a lot of us can't afford to go that route!

Wow! Thank you guys for all of your thoughts. I am amazed too that you are able to see the detail you are with these online photos.... It sounds like no one really hated one or the other with the cabinets and that is a relief. To answer ca_mom, yes there is some rose color undertone/speckles in the green.

I think that either would be great, but I like the blue a tiny bit more. What wood is your cabinets? It looks a little reddish in some pictures but not in others.

We have blue quartzite with cherry cabinets and love the calm cool and warm combination. We started out looking for greens (and our blue has some aqua and green tones) but at the time only found yellowish greens which didn't work for us.

I read (and reread) everyone's comments, and drove down to see the granite again. A friend who does decorating locally was concerned that both were unusual choices that could be a problem if we tried to sell our house anytime soon. But selling soon is not at all in the cards.

I will sleep on it to get some perspective but most likely will be going with the blue. It speaks to me more. This goes against my initial instinct that I ought to do green with this wood. But, maybe my instincts are being guided subconsciously by seeing the same color combinations over and over.

Cloudswift, my cabinets are red birch. The larger sample on the left is my flooring. I really appreciate your input that you have done something similar, and if you have a photo, plaese feel free to add it (or a link).

Colorfast - did you see my comment above that you should take samples home with you to see how they will look in your kitchen, your light, etc.? You didn't mention that you've done that, even though you went back to the stone yard. It would be very helpful in your decision.

I'm sorry but I think your friend is wrong or misinformed in saying that these granite choices would be a problem to sell your house. Both granites are beautiful, and would actually help to sell your house IMHO, rather than some boring granite that buyers will see over and over in developers' subdivisions, cause the granites are easy to find and the developers can buy them, literally, by the ton.

I have Piracema granite counters, also called "Wave" granite, which has a bit of similarity to your blue choice because of the waviness, and the blue, though yours is darker. Like many granites, Piracema looks different with different slabs, some lighter, some darker, some busier, some quieter pattern. I don't have a pic of my slab, but I'll link a pic I saw online that is similar to mine . My point is that I have had it installed for 6 years, and (A) it looks as good as the day it was installed, even though I have not been careful with it, (B) people ooh and ah over it when they come to my house, and (C) I have never yet grown tired of looking at the beautiful pattern of waves, every morning when I come down to the kitchen. That is why I like your blue choice better.

Our granite (geologically quartzite) is blue, but the pattern is more similar to your green granite. It's called Azul do Mar (Blue of the Sea) and has a similar ocean look.

The big picture:

And some close ups:

There is no way that a blue granite will be trendy. There isn't enough of it. It will always be a special find for a special kitchen. Maybe something more bland would be better for resale - I don't know. When we were looking at open houses, a lot of the flip houses had a confusion of neutrals (even though they call them neutral, they don't all go together). I think our kitchen looks a lot better than that.

Ours has been in for 5 years. Like Chicago's, it looks as good as new and we never tire of looking at it.

Thanks for the reassurance, that was amazing--both the comments and the photos.

Akchicago, the yard has no samples of the green. I did bring home the one blue sample, but it is from a previous lot and has far less of the dark blue and wave in it. More of the small bits of brown/purple undertone that are far less prevalent in my slabs.

Not sure I should start a new post but my pix of the BLUE granite are all here.

Deciding between the anthracite, Metallic gray and the white for a Blanco sink. Probably the gray is the front runner... Our granite guy mentioned his anthracite had faded a bit over several years, or that might be.

Blue is the answer! I just wanted to also echo what lavenderlass said above--you aren't constrained to just doing white subways. Post about your BS separately, and if you want actually useful information, ask about alternatives that are not white subways. You already know what those look like.

Plus, sometimes I think there's a spambot on GW that searches for every post with "backsplash" in it and answers "Creamy Subways!" fifty times in a row, whether the countertop is soapstone or marble or granite or rammed cow dung.